A wild and crazy year for Victoria

VICTORIA, BC—2008 was a wild and crazy year for tourism in general, and Victoria in particular.  That was one of the topics of discussion at the Third Annual Tourism Breakfast, hosted by Chemistry Consulting Group at the The Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort on Feb. 17.

Speakers included Rod Harris, CEO, Tourism BC, Frank Bourree, principal, Chemistry Consulting Group Inc., Robert Palmer, manager  public relations for WestJet and Rob Gialloreto, CEO, Tourism Victoria.

Tourism operators started 2008 with an optimistic outlook but worldwide events, wild weather and crazy markets impacted the industry, especially in the fourth quarter. Victoria hotels and BC Ferries were affected significantly by the economy and the shrinking US market.

Other points of interest include the following.

o    This year cruise ship season is expected to bring 25 cruise ships making 215 visits to Ogden Point, an all-time high and up from 201 last year. The ships are expected to deliver close to 400,000 passengers and about 132,800 crew members, while the direct amount of spending by passengers and crew is expected to be close to $30 million.

o    In November, year-to-date overnight trips to Canada from the U.S. fell 7.1 per cent compared with 2007, while visits from Asia/Pacific key markets decreased by 0.8 per cent, and visits from Europe increased by 3 per cent.

o    WestJet, Air France and KLM signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which allows for development of interline agreement—acceptance of each other’s e-tickets, through check-in of baggage, and frequent flyer program cooperation. A development of a code-sharing agreement, which would involve the Canadian gateways of Calgary, Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver, is planned for late 2009 or early 2010.

o    Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association’s latest forecast is for industry sales to fall by 1.4 per cent in 2009 compared to a 5.9 per cent decrease in 1991, when the introduction of GST and a recession hampered foodservice sales.